Statement by UW System President Ray Cross and Board of Regents Vice President Regina Millner on the Joint Finance Committee’s proposed changes to shared governance and tenure:

Statement by UW System President Ray Cross and Board of Regents Vice President Regina Millner on the Joint Finance Committee’s proposed changes to shared governance and tenure:

Friday, May 29, 2015

“When the Governor released his budget in January, the leadership of UW System and the Board of Regents spoke with one voice and immediately expressed our commitment to uphold the tenets of shared governance and tenure. Whether these important policies continued in statute or Board policy, we vowed they would live on.

“We remain as committed to these principles now as we were five months ago. We appreciate that the action proposed today by the Joint Finance Committee keeps shared governance language in state statute, and we are reviewing other proposed changes related to shared governance. As tenure was not retained in statute, we will move to incorporate it into Board policies immediately. The Board meets next week. A UW System tenure task force, previously charged with reviewing the tenure issue, will continue its work.

“Our review of all of the Joint Finance Committee’s proposed changes continues. Overall, we are pleased with the substantial reduction of our budget cut and the provision of additional flexibilities, and we are confident our new partnership with the legislature is focused on the future.”